Author: Caelin Bragg

5A state baseball and softball will be held on Wichita State’s campus Thursday, May 25-26 and state track Friday, May 26-27. Last year, these activities brought more than 30,000 people to campus. The university is asking for help from the campus community to drive golf carts and staff tents during these events.

Tents will be set up in various locations around campus May 26 and May 27. Individuals staffing tents will welcome people to campus, offer water, hand out brochures and promotional items, and answer questions visitors may have.

Golf cart rides will be offered May 26 and May 27. Drivers will provide visitors rides to their destinations on campus.

If you are interested in working these events, sign up online. There are two tabs at the bottom of the sheet: one to sign up as a tent worker and the other as a golf cart driver. Detailed information will be sent the week of May 22 to those signed up to help.

These events would not be successful without the support of our Shocker family, and we sincerely appreciate your help in creating a welcoming campus for our guests.

When Alissa Haddock joined the Wichita State University Strategic Communications team as an intern in spring 2022, it was abundantly clear that she possessed outstanding talent as a graphic artist. What wasn’t as apparent was her lifelong battle with her health.

A few months into her internship, her outward façade started to reflect her internal health struggles: Her skin and eyes took on a yellow hue, and her demeanor and the dark circles under her eyes suggested that she was someone who was just bone tired.

Today, as she creates and collaborates from her desk in Morrison Hall, she is positively glowing inside and out with renewed vigor and enthusiasm — not just for her job, but for life — all because of a new liver, thanks to her cousin’s selfless donation.

Dr. Anna Porcaro, executive director of Online and Adult Learning, participated in an expert panel for the 2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: Teaching and Learning Edition.

Her essay in the report addresses how emerging teaching and learning trends impact adult learners. She will also participate in a panel discussion of the report online at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 16. Since WSU is a member of EDUCAUSE, faculty and staff can register to attend the webinar at no additional charge.

Based on current COVID-19 trends, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services let the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration expire at the end of the day May 11, 2023.

While COVID-19 is not gone, public health conditions have improved to a point where COVID is effectively being self-managed. Federal and state government funded healthcare for COVID-19 will end.

What does this mean at Wichita State University?

Beginning May 12, Student Health Services (SHS) will no longer support free COVID-19 walk-in testing or vaccinations for the WSU community. While on-campus COVID-19 services will still be available, patients may become financially responsible for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations that were previously fully covered by federal/state funding during the public health emergency.

How does COVID-19 testing change at WSU?

• Asymptomatic walk-in testing for COVID-19 will no longer be provided at SHS.
• Symptomatic, by appointment testing for COVID-19 may be provided by WSU Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (MDL) while CARES funding and supplies last. While this option is still in effect, COVID testing can still be obtained at no additional charge through Student Health, by appointment only.
• Symptomatic testing for COVID-19 requires an illness appointment with the SHS providers.
  • WSU students will continue to have the same access to appointments at Student Health Services and can use their personal health insurance benefits or pay for services by other means. Uninsured students will have access to lower cost services.
  • WSU faculty and staff will have access to appointments through the new Student Health Services Faculty/Staff Acute Care Clinic. Appointment eligibility and payment information are available. WSU faculty and staff will be financially responsible for services provided.
• COVID-19 testing remains available at the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (MDL), 4174 S. Oliver, building 174H, for all students, faculty, staff and the general public at no additional charge.

How do COVID-19 vaccinations change at WSU?

• Student Health Services will continue to provide COVID-19 vaccinations for a fee when supplies are available.
• Find COVID vaccination sites near you 

 COVID-19 resources

• Sedgwick County Health Department
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment

The state of Kansas has allocated $4.2 million from the state’s budget (House Bill 2184) to Wichita State for need-based aid.

The funding will be targeted toward providing need-based scholarships to Pell-eligible Kansas students admitted to start at WSU this fall. Priority will be given to students admitted by May 1 with eligible FAFSA on file.

The $4.2 million allocated to Wichita State was the largest amount given to any Regents university —a reflection of the volume of need-based students WSU has compared to other institutions.

The first-come, first-served scholarships will be provided to expand the Shocker Promise Scholarship to more under-resourced students from Kansas high schools. Scholarships cover any remaining tuition/fee costs, as well as a partial housing scholarship.

To be eligible, students must be:

• Admitted as a new WSU student for fall 2023
• A Kansas Resident
• Pell eligible with a family income at or below $50,000
• Minimum 2.5 high school GPA
• Be accepted and enrolled at WSU by June 1, 2023

If you know any students who fit the above criteria, please guide them to wichita.edu/shockerpromise for more information. 

While writing is a vital part of studies and careers in science, the skills required for scientific writing are sometimes overlooked.

BioKansas, a non-profit focused on supporting the biosciences in Kansas and the surrounding region, aims to help students with those skills. Five Wichita State students are participating in the year-long BioKansas Scientific Writing Scholars program.

On June 1, Wichita State University begins its multi-year capital improvement plan to renovate Cessna Stadium into a state-of-the-art home for university, athletic and community events and the Kansas State High School Track and Field Championship.

Parking on the east side of Cessna Stadium will be affected beginning June 1. No classes are scheduled this summer in Devlin Hall.

Demolition of the east stands is the first step in the project. This phase of the project is scheduled to be completed before the fall semester.

A live stream of the construction is available.

• Lot 3N (student and visitors) will be closed for the summer and reconfigured as part of a future phase of the project. The lot is scheduled to be open before school starts in the fall.
• Lot 11 (faculty/staff and visitors) will be closed for the summer to non-construction traffic and used for contractor parking. It will be reconfigured as part of a future phase of the project. The lot is scheduled to be open before school starts in the fall.
• Lot 3S (faculty/staff and visitors) will be closed for the summer. Updates on the availability of the lot in the fall will be provided. The lot will be closed permanently as part of a future phase of the project.
• Entry on Yale Avenue will remain open. Expect truck traffic.

Marcus Welcome Center addition

Construction on the Marcus Welcome Center addition project will begin on May 15. The eastern-most part of Lot 19E, next to Mike Oatman Drive at Eck Stadium, will close until the summer of 2024. Expect construction traffic on Mike Oatman Drive.

Background on Cessna Stadium project

In September, the Wichita State University Board of Trustees approved funding for phases 1A and 1B for the capital improvement plan to replace Cessna Stadium.

Timing of all demolition and renovations will be scheduled to avoid interruption of the Kansas State High School Track and Field Championship in future years.

Demolition of the east stands of Cessna Stadium will begin immediately after the state track meet this year. Phase 1A begins in the fall with work scheduled to begin on improvements on the east side of the existing track (underground utility work, seating area for approximately 3,600 with a combination of bleacher seats and terraces designed for tents, free-standing field lights, fencing, ticket pavilion, restroom/storage buildings, and plaza).

Work is scheduled to be completed before the 2024 Kansas State High School Track and Field Championship.

Phase 1B begins after the 2024 Kansas State High School Track and Field Championship and includes widening the field and a 9-lane track. Bleacher seating on the north and south sides of the stadium is included.

Capacity of the stadium, when completed, is planned for approximately 13,500.

More than 2,200 Shockers are eligible for graduation in spring 2023. They hail from 29 states, 48 countries and six continents. As they leave the Wichita State University campus, they will share the story of Shocker Nation through their work as engineers, artists, teachers, scientists and leaders. Here’s what some of our graduates have to say about their time at Wichita State and their futures.

Performance Facilities was recognized as the next recipient of Rick Rewards on May 3. The staff were honored for their commitment to managing the performance venues across campus, including the College of Fine Arts Box Office, Miller Concert Hall, Wiedemann Hall and Wilner Auditorium.

Rick Rewards is awarded each month by President Rick Muma to show his appreciation for the efforts of our campus community.

The newest spring 2023 power rankings for the National Cyber League (NCL) are out and Wichita State’s group of student hackers performed this semester.

The NCL competition is a biannual cybersecurity competition for high school and college students throughout the nation.

• Overall, WSU finished eighth in the nation out of nearly 500 colleges, up from 24th in the fall.
• WSU finished third in the Central Region and sixth amongst all Center of Academic Excellence schools.
• World Wide Wheat, made up of Adrian Yip, Hyacinthe Howell, Chao Teh, Garrett Wahlstedt, Declan Dsouza, Quentin Nelson and King Khang Tran, took 15th out of nearly 3,600 participants.
• SKY-W5U-5H0X, made up of Nikilesh Samba Murthy, Prem Kumar Reddy Muvva, Dayton Turner, Ivan Macias, Don Alfaro and Carlos Renato Soverina Figueroa, competed in the experienced division and finished 18th out of 316 teams.
• JV1, made up of Juan Herrera, Seth Windsor, Annie Linux, Uche Chikezie, Ke’Auna Edmondson, Emily Evans and Arron Russell, in their first ever NCL, finished 133rd out of nearly 3,600 participants.
• Three other teams scored over 1,000 points and finished in the top 300 of nearly 3,600 participants.
• Amey Shukla, graduate student, and Quentin Nelson, senior, also lead classes and workshops, and Dr. Sergio Salinas, associate professor in the School of Computing, supported the students.

The participants are representative of the WuLug student group and the Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Cybersecurity programs.